According to our local paper, the public school board has made a decision to spare the local school children the opportunity to listen to President's Obama's address. They plan to record it, view it for political content, and then, maybe, allow some children to view it, unless their parents choose to opt out.I seriously doubt this would have been the case if the former occupant of the Oval Office had chose to address the school children of the United States.
It was definitely not the case when the first President Bush addressed the nation's school children (an action heartily applauded by the Republican Party).
Actually, there has never been much complaint about any sitting President addressing America's children. He has been, after all, their president. FDR actually started an entire charitable movement when he asked children to send in their dimes to help other children suffering from polio. If President Obama tried this, the opposition would probably accuse him of stealing from children.
For all of you who pulled your children out, or refused to allow them to attend school today, or who insist on getting your news secondhand, you should be ashamed. One would hope that your children are capable of discerning what is valid and what is not. If they are not, you should examine the quality of the school they attend, and your capabilities as parent (this is a great opportunity to say "let's listen to the presidents message and see where we agree and disagree - but we will listen because he is the president").
In case you have second thoughts and would like to offer your children the opportunity to read and decide for themselves, here's a link to the actual text:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
The only difference I can see between this president and any previous one is one that is glaringly obvious in photographs.
Those of you who refused to allow your children to participate - read the text and see what horrible, political ideas are presented. Next time maybe you'll think for yourselves or at least honestly re-examine your reasons for objecting.
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Great post Carole. I wish I could say I have been horribly shocked at the controversy over letting President Obama speak to school children. Sadly though, it just doesn't shock me anymore.
ReplyDeleteWe're eagerly waiting for the video to be uploaded to whitehouse.gov to watch it.
In the meantime we watched the one from the First Lady regarding the garden. :)
It is a VERY scary time when a message like the one he delivered is considered to awful for children to here, and something they need to be kept from.
The local super said he thought it was a good idea for Obama to address the kids in school, but he made his decision to tape it and leave it to the teachers because the issue has become "politicized." That's the real lesson here, that something as fundamental as an elected leader (and those who politicize are questioning even that) addressing kids about education and personal responsibility can be subjected to a noise machine based on ignorance, fear, and hate. Kids will see that their parents are allowing themselves to be manipulated, as all of us see that a small minority of willingly disinformed Fox sheep dance to the strings of a media owned by special interests. What kids will really learn is that there are those who don't want to solve problems or work together. Is that the nation they want? No. That's why youth voted for Obama in record numbers.
ReplyDeleteSorry Carole, but I think you are being just a bit too harsh. Granted it wasn't an issue here, I think our county schools wasted time both during the speech and afterward writing special letters. As homeschoolers I didn't think we hs'ed so that we could do the exact same things the ps did. I checked it out ahead of time, didn't care for the curric guidelines created by the administration, noticed the shift in those guidelines after parents got irate-which was very interesting on its own merit! didn't need a man that has yet to earn my trust, and has done a heck of a lot to toss it away, telling my kids to stay in school and off crack. We just got on with our day and did what we do. Too much hub bub for not much sense.
ReplyDeleteI don't see it as a homeschool vs public school question at all - my concern was with the public schols and their constant bending to public political opinion now. Since we live in a red area, *all* the public school children are now dictated to by the *red* parents -at the risk of offending them, versus saying "this is a school event, we will be participating, if you don't like it, keep your child at home, but they will be marked as absent". No concerns were ever raised by blue or red parts of the country when Reagan adddressed the school children, or when the first Bush did the same.
ReplyDeleteMy point is why is this suddenly different? I was heartened by the number of children interviewed after they listened to the speech who said the whole reaction by parents was silly, and they thought it was inspiring. But-yes, Rebecca, as homeschoolers we certainly can control our day and it has little or no relation to the public school day. Living here, I have spent the last 10 years being grateful for that.